The Green Beastling
by sweetlilsunshine
Summary: If you think being reborn in Kohana is tough; try being reborn as the spawn of it's infamous 'Green Beast'. Let me tell you, my life got a whole lot more difficult when my disease finally finished me off. -Self Insert-
1. Chapter 1

_**A/n: I do not own any Naruto copyrights.**_

Surrounded by water, I was trapped in an enclosure so dark; I'm not quite sure whether my eyes are open or closed. It's tight but not uncomfortable, floating here. When I first woke up in this place, no longer able to breath, move, or utter a word; well, it was all a bit disorientating for me. This was so different from my hospital room, so much a contrast to my sterile world; that, at first at least, I was convinced I was dreaming.

Or maybe this was the some sort of coma; my disease finally getting the upper hand after all these years. Had my feeble mind conjured up some distant memories to occupy my time while my body withered? But why a fetus? (I was floating in a watery cocoon with some sort of cord attached to my waist, what else could I be?) Of all things, would my mind force me to remember my own birth?

I shuddered horribly at the thought, a few limbs striking the rubbery walls around me as I did so. _Oh please wake up, _I begged myself, _please let this really only be just a dream._

I didn't wake up, well not to my heart monitor and IV at least; though I did find myself drifting in and out as my time in the womb crawled by. As time passed I began to catalog what I could glean about myself, as much information as possible; just so the actual timing of my (*ew*) _birth _wouldn't be as big a surprise.

I used this tactic all the time back at the hospital; noting things like a nurse's gossip and the number of drugs I was given so that I wouldn't be in the dark on a surgery day. It used to make me feel useful, all that knowing; ironic that I could put it to so much use even after my battle had already been lost.

Still, there really was a lot to learn once you just sat back and listened; even as an unborn baby. Small things, like how my mother's heartbeat proved that my ears were developed; could show you so much if you only paid attention. Like I had at the hospital, everything that would bring me closer to the goal was checked off my list; and though my knowledge on unborn fetuses was next to none, what I _was _able to gather was more than enough to tell me what I wanted to know.

It seemed that I would be born soon; just as it seemed that I wouldn't wake to reality anytime soon. Oh what joy, I would actually have to go through with this.

Sure enough, what I guessed to be 2, maybe 3 days later; I was awoken by a sudden and painful tightening of my prison as I was unceremoniously shoved headfirst down a tube. I won't lie; this was both horrifying and disgusting. It wasn't even second to projectile vomiting or chronic diarrhea; both of which I have experienced before during a couple of my more extensive 'treatments'.

But no matter how terrifying this feeling was; it still wasn't the worst I had to go through. For while feeling like a watermelon shoved down a straw was bad; coming out of a bloody hole screaming and coughing up afterbirth was much, much worse.

Hands caught me as I screeched and kicked; completely disgusted by what I had just endured. Voices echoed around me and bright lights blinded my blurry baby eyes. Suddenly I stopped kicking, my breath coming faster and faster as I realized something very wrong; no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't understand what was being said.

_Why weren't they speaking English?_ _This is supposed to be my memories. This is supposed to be my language._

Another stream of unintelligible syllables sounded above me as I began to hyperventilate; followed almost immediately by a quick but gentle slap to my back. Realizing I was probably scaring these people with my panic attack, I quieted my breaths until the strange voices stopped sounding so harried.

The hands from earlier lifted me into a small basin; rubbing me clean before I was wrapped in something fuzzy and pink. Swaddled from head to toe in what I assumed to be a blanket; whoever was holding me placed me in thin, obviously feminine, arms.

I wasn't confused anymore; if anything I was calmer than I had been before. Unlike the rest of this encounter, what with waking up in a womb, experiencing my own birth, and suddenly realizing I couldn't understand the language; this part was fairly simple. The nurse, as that was probably who the owner of the hands was, would place me in the arms of my mother and she would bring us face to face.

I smiled a baby's smile as I thought of my mother; such a gentle and kind woman. She was someone that I had never heard complain, not even when I had been bedridden for years at a time. Would she look different? I wondered vaguely as petite hands began to lift me. Would a younger her look less haggard, less tired?

A woman's face swam into view as, like I predicted, a woman's hands brought me close. The blurriness faded as the distance closed; and the face of a stranger came into view. Spurred by the pure shock of the moment; I began to scream.

This was _not _my mother.

My mother had been blonde and beautiful. She hadn't possessed the thin waves of chocolate brown hair that fell so chaotically around this woman's too skinny frame. The slightly unhinged cinnamon eyes staring out at me were as far from my mother's warm blue ones as the sun was from the sea.

For a second the woman only stared at me wailing in her arms, like she didn't quite get who I was either; and then she slapped me.

Or at least, she _tried _to slap me. I was out of her arms before she could make contact; wrestled away by familiar hands as someone shouted things in that strange language. I watched on in newly renewed silence as her blurry figure lay back almost nonchalantly; like she felt no remorse at all.

I blinked, where was my mother? Why were they handing me to such an insane woman?

Whoever had rescued me hugged me tight to their chest; murmuring soothing words as they moved away from the woman's bed and through a nearby door. I bumped against the figures breasts as her (and it must have been a woman) walking jarred me; but those weren't the only things. Worn like a loose choker, there was a metal plate around a cloth necklace. The strange thing about it all wasn't the fact that she had it on, it was that; not only could I vaguely make out the pattern cut into the cold metal, but I could recognize it too.

Who would have thunk it, my nurse was a cosplayer; and of Naruto no less.

It was actually a bit refreshing; the nurse's back home would have never have even watched the anime, much less actually stoop to wear merchandise from it. I had pestered them about it all the time; especially after surgeries or treatments. If this nurse was there, maybe those times would have been a lot more fun.

Come to think of it, if one of the nurses was decked out in cosplay; did that mean I _wasn't_ re-experiencing my own birth? Even if that lunatic was my mother, I was positive Naruto hadn't been around when I came into the world.

_Am I not in a coma at all? Is this all some sort of freaky reincarnation?_

My musings were interrupted when the nurse stopped, said a few more words in gibberish, and laid me in a glass box. I sighed as she began to blur, becoming nothing more than just a mass of colors as she stepped away completely.

Judging from the whimpers and cries around me; It was pretty obvious I was in the nursery. Like the womb, and even like my first sight of my new 'mother' (she couldn't have been anyone else unfortunately), I was pretty sure I knew how this would go. New language or not, nurseries were the same everywhere; and if they were the same here? Well I had a lot of waiting to do, again.

So, just like I had before, and had on countless occasions back in my old hospital; I began to listen. Now this was amazingly hard when you didn't understand a word of the conversations around you; but, believe it or not, there were other things to listen to too.

Like my new name for example. This was of course, said in the same gibberish that all their words were spoken in; and the name they had written on my box was not only backward (it was on the other side of the glass) but written in scribbles as well. At first it seemed impossible, but then I began to notice something about a couple of the conversations I could hear; the visitors of the other babies ignored me, but the nurses talked to all of us.

One nurse, the same nurse who had rescued me, cooed slow, obviously baby-ish talk whenever she changed or fed me. Compared to the faster gibberish that everyone else used, her words were by far the easiest to distinguish. Though I still couldn't understand her; it was enough for me to make out one important phrase, repeated over and over again as she babbled.

Aw there it was_, Kaori_.

Or should I say Kaori-_chan_? Something that was not only my new name but also a huge hint as to where I was; suffixes like _chan_ were only common in one language after all. What do you know? Not only do the nurses do Naruto cosplay but they speak Japanese as well.

Was this a coincidence? I couldn't quite put my finger on it but something seemed wrong about it all. My sudden rebirth, the Naruto wear, my new Japanese name; hell my new mother hadn't even looked Japanese at all.

What was going on here?

I was deafly confused and curious, but I had no time to ponder the answers to my questions. The moment I had even _begun _to think them; I had been picked up by my rather disgruntled nurse. The lady didn't sound very happy as she carried me down a couple hallways and a few staircases; but I didn't have long before I knew why. For the moment we entered the lobby (or at least that's what I assumed it to be); I was unceremoniously shoved into a woman's arms. I blinked as the face of that woman came into view; suddenly feeling a horrible urge to scream all over again.

Oh lord no wonder the nurse had been upset; she had been ordered to hand a baby over to a mother who had already tried to hurt it. Hell, I was pretty upset by it.

Then again, that made sense too; after all, I _was _the baby she almost slapped.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

After a very tense walk through the very loud streets of wherever we were; the woman took me to a building that could've only been her home. Or at least part of the building was her home; from the sheer amount of steps she had to climb, it didn't take me long to peg the place as an apartment complex.

There was a moment of stillness when the sound of a door opening registered to my baby senses; the faint jingling of keys identifying it as _her _door. I almost sighed with relief at the sound; glad that our journey was almost over. I was tired, hungry and (embarrassing as it is to admit) a little wet; all I wanted was to be out of this woman's arms and into the arms of someone who actually cared.

Maybe she had a maid or a live in relative; I didn't really want to rely on someone who slapped babies for the necessities.

For the first time since the hospital, gibberish floated through the air and into my small ears; this time sounding in a sarcastic voice that I could only assume was the woman's. Out of curiosity I listened to the words closely; hoping to unravel the meanings in their random syllables. It was only after a second or two of this that I finally registered something rather new; I was flying.

My eyes widened with horror as I thumped down on a cushion; the impact jarring my baby body enough that everything rattled. I could only stare as the blurry form of my new 'mother' retreated further into her home; giving not even one care to what she had just done. Hurt and confused, I did what my new body had wanted to do since I first realized what was happening; I started to scream.

She threw me. That horrible woman _threw_ me. Was this some kind of karma? Had my sick and frail self before been such a bad person that _this_ is what I got in the end, a mother who slapped _and _threw her child?

My crying petered out from sheer exhaustion eventually; and I was left wondering why the woman hadn't come back to shut me up. The last time I had cried in her presence she had tried to, so why not now when there were no pesky nurses to stop her?

Quiet now, I waited for something to happen; waited for that woman to come back and do something about my growing needs. I had noticed as soon as we had arrived in this place that she had no one with her; not only in the hospital but here as well. There was no greeting, no faces eager to see me, and most of all, no blurry moving figures besides that of her own. I wasn't actually all that used to having a family (it had just been me and my mom in that hospital after all) but the thought of having no human contact at all was a little daunting to say the least.

Hopefully that woman would remember to feed me; I didn't want my helpless new body to die as soon as I got it.

That at least, the woman did do. After what felt like hours in that basket, she returned to me with a bottle and a new diaper; disappearing again without a word as soon as I was no longer in any danger of dying. It became routine as the days began to pass; being left in that basket until I needed to be either fed or cleaned. Sometimes she would give me a bath and sometimes I would be taken along on a shopping trip; but other than that, I became rather used to nothing but my basket for hours on end.

Eventually as I became strong enough (the basket was on the floor), I started to crawl around the domain that was the woman's living room. There was no celebration of my new achievement of course; the woman hadn't talked to me since that sarcastic comment on the first day. All she did was move anything dangerous out of my way.

By the time my first birthday was over (no party, go figure) I had already graduated to some very wobbly first steps.

As time passed I began to listen more on the occasions the woman would take me to the market; straining my little ears to hear and understand what the people around us were saying. This was harder than the walking and the crawling because though the woman (who was practically my only human interaction) did speak to people in the shops and streets; she never spoke to me directly, not even at home.

It took longer than it had in my first life that's to be certain; but shortly after I turned two, I finally began to get a hang of the gibberish language that was Japanese. Surprisingly enough, this was also when the woman decided to finally talk to me; if only to complain about her problems.

Sad to say, this was how I learned several important facts about my life; through the complaining of the brutal women who had become my mother. One being her name, Takayami Junko (something that I learned purely through her love of talking about herself) and the other being that (through some random twist of fate) I had someone ended up in the Naruto universe; because if there was one thing that crazy woman delighted in, it was bad-mouthing ninja.

I probably would have figured that out sooner to be honest; especially if I hadn't been going around telling myself that everyone in a leaf-headband was a cosplayer. It was denial, I'll admit it now, but the straw that _really _broke the camel's back wasn't the headbands or the hokage monument; it was Hatake Kakashi, the ninja my vicious mother tried to rip to shreds in the middle of a dango shop.

It had started rather simply actually; mainly with me staring my eyes out at the man in line who _couldn't_ exist. Imagine my surprise when that man turned around, saw Junko, saw me; and then promptly stepped out of line just to sit down at our table. For some reason, though she also looked just as surprised as I did (though probably for different reasons) the woman also looked angry at the fictional ninja before us.

"Hello Junko-chan" Kakashi said pleasantly as his eye crinkled in a smile before flashing over to me. "I wasn't aware you had a daughter."

Like that somehow had been an insult, the woman next to me turned a furious shade of red; her hardened eyes fixing the silver haired guy with a vicious glare. "Leave." She spat, no answers yet no questions; this was a demand, pure and simple.

Kakashi didn't go; instead his eye seemed to wander over to me again, all crinkle gone. For the first time (and mainly because I was getting over the shock) I wondered what he was seeing. A too thin girl with sallow cheeks? Or perhaps it was the thin clothing that he saw first? I blushed and turned my face away; ashamed that him of all fictional characters had to see me so low. The copy ninja said nothing about my state; instead he fixed a rather fierce look at Junko.

"Does he know?"

My eyes widened at the words, especially when the woman seemed to snap; pulling me out of my seat with one decisive movement. He? My father? Did _Kakashi Hatake _know my _father_? It was all a bit much to take in, and as the ninja silently followed us out into the street; I couldn't help but wonder who my father actually was. If Kakashi knew him, he might actually be in the series itself.

"Leave us alone!" Junko practically screamed, tearing me away from my thoughts as her grip on my arm tightened. She was openly glaring now, her mouth was twisted into an ugly snarl. "Go be a shinobi, go die on your missions!" She screeched, nails now digging into my flesh. I flinched, remembering the woman who had tried to slap me as an hour-hold infant. This anger alone was enough to send me cowering; Kakashi must have noticed because his eye went hard.

One instant I was cringing under my mother's hand and the next I was free; torn between staring at my liberated arm and at the man who had liberated it. It was over so quick that I wasn't even sure he had been the one to do it; was this what ninja speed truly was?

"You must have not realized you were hurting her." Kakashi explained in a too-serious-to-be-joking voice, one hand still on my shoulder as the woman before us gaped. "Don't worry, she's fine now."

"Give her back!" The woman cried as she launched herself at the much more able ninja; suddenly all claws. "She's mine! GIVE HER BACK!"

Kakashi dodged with much more grace than she attacked; fluidly pulling me out of the way as he did so. "Do you think Konoha's police would be happy with her condition?" He asked almost _too _casually. "What about the Hokage?"

Junko slowed, looking uncertain; finally she stopped completely. Looking both lost and confused, she began backing away; eventually she was gone and I was suddenly left completely alone. For the first time in a long time, I felt like crying.

Kakashi's eye crinkled again as he knelt to my level, finally looking me in the eye. "Now, what was your name again?"

For a second I stared at him, bewildered; after a few seconds, I answered in a very quiet voice. "Kaori." I muttered. "Takayami Kaori."

The ninja nodded. "So Kaori, would you mind if I introduced you to your father?"

I blinked, surprised both by the question and by how gentle he sounded now. What happened to that subtly brutal ninja that had scared away that woman? I had known from the beginning that he possibly knew my father, but why was he forcefully taking me from my mother to take me to him? Did I really look so bad as to rip me away from her?

Seeing that the guy was still waiting for an answer; I gave him a hesitant nod. His eye crinkled again as he took my hand; leading me slowly throughout the streets. I was curious, I'll admit to that fully; and I couldn't help but run the names of my potential father through my head. Who would have slept with Junko? That was the major question, and though it was slightly disturbing to think about; I honestly couldn't place someone in the canon storyline who would've stooped that low, especially someone who knew Kakashi.

We came to a stop in front of an apartment building (one much nicer than my own) and Kakashi gave me a long look. After what felt like forever the Jounin stepped forward and rang one of the doorbells on the ground floor. Before it could even finish ringing the door was flung open and a ball of green spandex shot out.

"Kakashi!" The man shouted in a far too excited way "My eternal rival, at long last you seek me out to chall-"

"Gai," Kakashi interrupted quickly, pushing me forward with one hand. "This is Kaori-chan, Junko's daughter." The silver haired ninja sent the other man a pointed look. My eyes widened in what must have been a look of utter terror. "_Your_ daughter."

Maito Gai looked down at me; his face one of pure shock. He turned back to Kakashi and said something in a much more subdued tone from earlier; but I can honestly say I didn't hear a word of it. All I could take in were the eyebrows, the green spandex, and the leg warmers; all things I had thought were ridiculous since day one. Only one thought was running through my head by this point; one that though only three words, expressed my feelings to a tee.

Oh God Why?


	2. Chapter 2

_**D: I do not own any Naruto copyrights.**_

Standing in Gai's apartment; I was suddenly struck with how different it was from the one I had shared with Junko. Besides being nicer and bigger (it had two bedrooms instead of one), this place had a much less _personal _feel than what I was used to. Junko, however cold towards me she might have been, _lived _in her home.

Gai, well it wasn't all that hard to tell that he did not.

The sparsely decorated apartment wasn't dusty from neglect though; in fact it was clean to almost an insane level. Wandering around the living room, running my toddler's hands along dust free surfaces; I couldn't help but wonder if the spandex-clad ninja only returned just to clean the place.

In the kitchen, Kakashi and Gai's conversation (most likely about me) didn't break even once as I stumbled about; probably in an unnecessarily loud way to their sensitive ears. Taking the lack of response as a reassurance that I hadn't broken some unspoken rule; my exploration became a bit braver and more widespread.

Toddling down the hallway on short legs, I tried to open the few doors I passed; only to discover with disappointment that I wasn't tall or strong enough to even begin to accomplish that. With a huff and a childish pout; I instead settled for peaking in the one door in the hall that _wasn't _closed.

Honestly, what I saw in there didn't surprise me in the least.

It was an exercise room; or at least, it was the second bedroom that Gai had probably converted into an exercise room somewhere along the way. Complete with several worn punching bags, sweat (was that blood?) stained matted floor, and the various other weights and bars; this room was the most lived in I had seen of this place by far.

Though being a Taijutsu Master; the guy probably was in this room more than the rest of his house combined.

Floor length and occupying the entirety of the back wall; a huge mirror suddenly caught my eye, erasing all my previous thoughts within an instant. To be more accurate, it wasn't the _mirror _that captured my attention exactly; only the little girl that stood within it.

She stared out at me with dark cinnamon eyes set in a pale face; soft black ringlets framing the young features before it cascaded down the back of her too short dress. My eyes widened instantly at the sight; recognizing the dress (Junko had bought it for me about a year ago) but not quite willing to acknowledge who she was.

How could this be me? There's no way.

Then again, I don't know why it surprised me so much; it wasn't like I had ever had a valid reference before. Junko hadn't possessed a mirror that I could reach; and even before then, at the hospital, I had never seen one. The me before had always been a blank face actually; no one, not even my mother, had ever wanted to show me what I looked like.

Looking back, it actually made quite a bit of sense; giving a terminally ill girl a mirror wouldn't have been the most motivational thing in the world.

Did this girl really come from Gai? Came the errant thought as I continued to study my new features; my chubby hand now moving to examine both my eyes and lips. Junko was easy to see, (all you had to do was spot the spring-like hair and the brown eyes); but Gai seemed to be a different story altogether.

His hair was black and so was mine; but that was the only similarity I could really spot right off. The eyebrows, thin and petite; were thankfully not cut from the same cloth as his own. To be honest, I probably would've shaved them off if they had been; looking like a scared deer would have been preferable to having those honking things on my forehead.

Now nearly nose to nose with the cool glass; I leaned in intently, determined to see _something_ that disproved what Kakashi said. I didn't _want _to be the daughter of a spandex wearing ninja. I wanted to have a _cool_ ninja for a dad; someone to offset Junko's personality like Asuma or (Shikamaru's father) Shikaku.

Maybe if I couldn't find a resemblance; the whole thing wouldn't turn out to be true.

"Oh what youth!" Gai's voice suddenly exclaimed as he appeared behind me; scaring me halfway out of my skin. "To admire one's appearance is a sign of becoming a great ninja!" Striking a strange pose; I swear his grin literally 'pinged'.

"Actually Gai," Kakashi commented from where he leant against the doorframe; flipping idly through a suspicious orange book. "I think she was trying to spot the differences."

In a way that was both overly dramatic and unnecessary; Gai burst into a river of tears. "Do not be afraid Kaori-chan!" He cried; suddenly embracing me as I stared back with shocked eyes. "You are most assuredly my daughter; there is no way to be mistaken!"

Well that didn't just prove my greatest fear.

"Thank you?" I let out in a way that almost made it sound like a question; the childish voice making me come across shy. Just to get him off, I threw in a sudden and random question.

"Where's Junko?"

It worked, both ninja stiffened; Gai putting me down as he knelt down to my level. Seeing his uncomfortable expression, I felt a twinge of guilt; this couldn't be easy to explain to a child.

"Junko is. . ." He paused awkwardly; throwing a pleading look at Kakashi but frowning when the other ninja only shrugged. "Going on a long and strenuous journey in order to become a better woman!"

He finished with such sudden vigor; packing in so much enthusiasm on the obvious lie (I mean really, all he had to say was 'mommy's going away' and I'd have been fine), that I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

"A long journey?" I questioned with fake uncertainty; really only teasing the man now. "That doesn't sound like Junko."

Finally relenting to Gai's desperate gaze; Kakashi sighed and closed his book. "Junko acts differently around us." He said simply, leaving no room for discussion. "So what you think she sounds like isn't what she sounds like around us."

Deciding to give the ninjas a bit of a break, I nodded; earning a sigh of relief from Gai.

Come to think of it. Kakashi's explanation could've even had a grain of truth to it. I mean, the woman had viciously attacked one of them and dated (or at least had a fling with) the other; actions that were so far from the Junko I knew, that you might as well call the sky green.

"Am I going to live here?" I asked; watching warily as Gai sprung to his feet, grinning like my words alone had just made the world a brighter place.

"Why yes you are Kaori-chan!" He beamed, once more striking a pose. "And with my inherited youthful spirit, I promise to make you're upbringing an enlightening one!"

Slowly absorbing the entirety of what he just said; I suddenly got the feeling that the guy was alluding to something. Now suspicious _and _wary; I took in all of who my 'father' was with a single critical look.

"I won't have to wear the suit, will I?"

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

If there was one word to describe living with Gai; that word would be 'interesting'.

Within the first few days, everything was fine; though Gai _did_ take 'youthful parenting' to the extreme. The entirety of the exercise room was relocated (we didn't exactly have a living room any more) and a veritable flood of my newly bought things was brought in to fill the void.

I was overwhelmed. The guy didn't have the slightest clue on what I'd actually need so he bought _everything_; if it had the words 'baby', 'child', or 'toddler on it, it ended up stacked somewhere in my new space.

It was so different from anything that I'd experienced before; whether it be the hospital bed or the cramped basket, that I had absolutely no words.

It was only afterwards, when the dust had settled and my 'room' was actually livable (though it had turned out to be a rather bizarre matchup of furniture); that I truly began to realize what living with Gai would _really _be like.

To put it simply; the guy wouldn't know what to do with a two year-old if one hit him in the face.

He expected me to like a mini-adult; a carbon copy of his mature ninja comrades. When he went for his insane (I swear this guy had no off switch) amounts of daily training; I was expected to be there training right beside him. I wasn't an athlete though; hell, I doubt I'd ran a mile once in either of my lives. Just an hour of Gai's _warm-up _had me tired; half the time I never even made it to the training itself.

This frustrated my ninja father to no end; prompting endless inspirational speeches of 'youthfulness' and 'eternal strength' while he continued to grind me into the ground. By the time I turned three and found out that my first ever birthday present was training kunai; it was blatantly obvious that Gai expected me to be a ninja.

This brought me to a new dilemma entirely. With Junko I had never had to even think about eventually joining the ranks of Konoha's shinobi. The woman had hated them with a passion (probably because of Gai, now that I thought about it) and would have sooner shot me in the head than allowing me to go with her blessing.

Gai however had been one of the prodigies in the war; he had even graduated at seven. With him it was ridiculous to even think of me _not _becoming a shinobi. In his mind, it was as clear as if it had been written in stone.

The thing was; I wasn't really sure _I _wanted to be a ninja. I mean, back in the old world I had seen quite a few things in the 'Naruto' Series; things that I most assuredly did _not _want to live through. I was under no illusion of being strong after all; how would I survive Orochimaru's invasion, the Fourth Shinobi War _and _Danzo?

I wouldn't, if I became a ninja then I'd probably be dead before I even turned twenty.

But then again, I _did _have a healthy knowledge of what was probably the future (I still hadn't been able to place where I was on the timeline); maybe I'd be able to do something positive with it. In the end I decided to just postpone the actual decision until Gai brought it up himself.

There was after all, quite a few more things on the 'Gai doesn't know how to raise a little girl' list.

Such as shopping; something that became a nightmare when I flat out refused his green spandex costume on that first day. I really shouldn't have expected Konoha's self-proclaimed 'Sublime Green Beast' to give up that easily; if anything, that question alone made him both persistent and determined.

From the first shopping trip with him (one that had resulted in my everyday outfit of a green tank top and capris) to every one after that; he was right there, needling me about the pros of his outfit of choice.

When the present on my fourth birthday turned out to be the suit itself, complete with blue leg-weights; I was ready to strangle him. Eventually, as a compromise of sorts, I removed the weights from the suit and put them on alone; the sheer heaviness of them coming as more than a surprise.

Even though I could barely walk for days; Gai seemed to accept that I would never see things his way, backing off with every air of disappointment he could muster.

It made me sigh at yet _more _of his dramatics; but I kept the weights on out of the desperate want for him _never _to resume his whining. To my surprise, though they were heavy at first, the weights actually did help out when I was training; slowly but surely, I became slightly faster both on and off of the training fields.

Two days before my fifth birthday, I took a break from Gai for a bit; wandering around the city on my own as I weaved expertly through the feet of those around me. Ninja's weren't too concerned with their children running around on their own here; probably because what was considered an adult here (12 for ninja) was ridiculously low. Gai (who was usually a dramatic mother hen) didn't even think twice when I wandered off.

To me this was nothing short of a blessing; my choice was getting nearer fast and I needed time to think.

In Konoha there were two main schools; one being the civilian elementary and the other being The Academy. Both schools started around five; though at the Academy that age line was fairly blurred. After all, depending on your individual talent as a ninja; you could enter and graduate from The Academy much sooner than a normal school would have allowed.

Gai, I knew, was planning on entering me into the Academy at five just like everyone else; as it wasn't like I was a prodigy myself. Finding an abandoned park near the outskirts of town; I headed over to the benches with a heavy sigh. Should I stay a civilian or become a ninja; that was the main question here. Or rather, should I stay safe and allow Konohana to fall; or become a ninja and try to change things.

Remembering an old Saw movie that a nurse had once watched with me on Halloween; I smiled morbidly as I sat down on one of the cold stone benches.

"To live or die." I said out loud, silently marveling at the irony. "The choice is yours."

"That's cool." A quiet, yet young voice suddenly cut in; making me jump even though it was barely audible. "Is that a ninja saying?"

"No, it's not a-" I began, explaining subconsciously as I half-turned toward the speaker; the words dying instantly when a flash of blond caught my eye. Those very eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as I stared; _the _Naruto Uzumaki's sheepish grin wavering a bit under my intense gaze.

He looked down, bright blue eyes beginning to well as his grin disappeared completely. "Do you hate me too?" He muttered in a voice so broken; I suddenly found myself wanting to hug him, all shock gone.

This boy looked no more than a few years than me and yet had lived through years of hate that he didn't even understand. Even up until now he had only been a character or a time marker; my heart went out to him.

"Come here." I said, patting the seat next to me; the simple gesture alone making the boy's eyes go wide. When he gingerly sat on the very far side of the bench; I scooted closure and draped my arm over his shoulder. It must have seen weird, having just met him and all; but I knew he needed it.

"Why would I hate you?" I asked carelessly; throwing a side glance to a Naruto who seemed beyond words. To give him time to recuperate from the shock, I continued. "You just look like someone who really needs a hug."

"Everyone else hates me." The boy finally said, seemingly regaining both his voice and confidence. Like it had been conquered from thin air, a wide grin was slowly spreading across his childish features; disappearing again when a thought seemed to occur to him. "Even the kids at the Academy hate me."

The Academy? I wondered; giving the boy besides me a long look. Was Naruto _older_ than me than? By how much? How old would I be when the cannon story line finally began to happen?

"Well I don't hate you. In fact I'll be your friend." I told Naruto firmly and suddenly, this time really earning a surprised smile. "And I _might _be going to the Academy next year."

Naruto's smile turned into the grin that had threatened before. "Really?!" The boy looked positively delighted. "You'll be my friend? _Really!?_"

"Yes, really." I laughed, raising my hands to bat down the boy's enthusiasm. Remembering my earlier problem suddenly, I frowned. "I don't know if I'll actually be going to the Academy though."

"Why not?" The boy asked, honestly interested. "Don't you want to be a ninja?"

"I do, I think I could do something really amazing as a ninja." I responded quietly, a little bit ashamed at what was coming next. "But I could die too; I don't want that."

"Don't die then." Naruto replied simply; looking at me like it was the easiest answer in the world.

I sighed, about to reply when Naruto cut me off.

"Dying is like giving up, and I don't think _anyone _should give up." He looked at me; an amazing amount of determination now burning in his eyes. In a very positive way, I was reminded of Gai.

"If you think you can do something great, then you _will _do something great! Believe it!"

Tears gathering and lip quivering; I suddenly gathered the boy into a real, full body hug. "You know," I commented, half laughing, half crying. "I don't know your name." Well, I knew his name; but he didn't know that I knew.

Naruto laughed, probably realizing the same thing. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to be the next Hokage!" He exclaimed. "Believe it!"

"And I'm Maito Kaori." I replied using Gai's name as I had been since I first met the guy. Coming to a sudden decision, as I sat there, embraced by Naruto; I smiled brightly. "You know what?" I told him. "I think it'll be fun to go to the Academy with you, even if we're not in the same year."

Naruto beamed. "You mean it?"

"Yeah," I said, still smiling. "I mean it."


	3. Chapter 3

_**D: I do not own any Naruto copyrights.**_

The room was immense; filled to the brim with nervous 5 year olds and their chatting families. Sitting somewhere in the throng of children; I twiddled my thumbs and rocked in my seat, anxious for the ceremony to begin. Somewhere behind me, Gai cheered enthusiastically from the parent's section; he, it seemed, was more excited about this whole thing than I was.

I bit my lip. What if this was the wrong decision? It had been a spur of the moment decision; what if I had been too rash?

Not for the first time; I scanned the heads around me for a flash of Naruto's blond. He wasn't there, no one from the series (besides Gai and the Hokage) was. I frowned. Was I not the same age as the rookie nine? I knew I wasn't the same age as Naruto but he had failed 4 times in the anime; I had figured that I would still be in his graduating year.

The Hokage stepped onto the stage; his very presence prompting the chatter to fall flat. I twiddled my hair nervously; watching with all the other children around me as the most powerful ninja in Kohana began to speak.

_This is it_. I thought, _I can't go back now_.

"I welcome the newest year of students to our Academy." He began with a clear voice; one that demanded attention the moment it was used. "These students," He gestured to our group (there were about 30 of us), "Carry the future of Kohana on their shoulders, they carry the Will of Fire in their hearts."

I smiled, recognizing the term from both the series and from the stories I had been told by Gai. The Will of Fire was almost a religion here; something spiritual that was talked about in a very physical way. Many ninja lived by it.

"Some of them will die for their village." The old man continued solemnly; his tone changing to one that seemed to chill the air. "Some will become great shinobi of legend. All will be honored ninja; respected for protecting our home."

I blinked, remembering that not every student became a genin after graduating. Why was he leaving that out? Maybe it was so we wouldn't write ourselves off as 'not good enough' too soon; but maybe it was also so our school years wouldn't become a competition. Konoha was all about teamwork; if they pitted us against each other we'd never learn how to work together.

His impressive red and white hate bobbed as our leader bowed his head and waving a white-haired (yet still young) man forth from where he had been standing near the back of the stage.

"This is Mizuki," Came the introduction as every pair of eyes shifted over to the new face. "He will be the teacher in charge of this year's students. Until they come to graduate, he will mold them and guide them into becoming shinobi." The Hokage stepped back slowly, allowing the other man to move in front.

My brow furrowed slightly at the name of this new man. Mizuki? It seemed so familiar. Had it been in the series somewhere? I frowned intently as the new man before us gave his own little speech (one that wasn't nearly as riveting as the Hokage's). I tuned him out, still thinking. Was he someone important? Why couldn't I remember? Had he been a minor character? Part of a filler episode?

The sound of chairs scraping around me brought me back to reality; startling me into looking up with wide eyes. Everyone around me was risen; a stream of slow moving children moving steadily to the front. I blinked wide eyes. Had I missed something?

Seeing that I was still seated and looking bewildered, one of the boys snickered and poked me in the arm. Looking up at him, I began to give him the beginnings of a grateful smile; hoping that he would be nice and fill me in.

"Hey," He whispered with mock quietness that killed my smile instantly. "We're supposed to follow Mizuki-sensei to our classroom. You would have heard that if you were paying attention."

"I _was_. . ." I weakly defended, my voice for some reason coming out as a sound that was just barely above a whisper. "I just. . ." This time I bit my lip, wondering why this was so damn hard. "didn't hear what he said in the end."

"Ha!" The boy scoffed, grinning to a few of the other children; showing to me that (oh _joy_) he was a crowd pleaser. It wasn't too surprising; his sleek braid of black hair and dark eyes made him handsome enough. Coupled with his air of leadership and arrogance; this made one dangerous recipe for a show off.

I managed to roll my eyes as they gathered around us in a tight pack. They didn't even know what we were arguing about; but they were on his side nonetheless.

"You didn't hear a word." The boy leered; prompting several grins on the faces of his followers. "I bet you're too stupid to be a ninja. You'll drop out by next week."

Loud obnoxious laughter burst from his mouth as I turned a furious shade of red. Still I couldn't speak; it was like someone had glued my lips shut. Why couldn't I defend myself?

Simultaneously; every other child picked up on his cruel sound. Soon the whole room and all of its immensity was filled with the sound of cold, mocking, childish laughter. I froze, wide-eyed as I watched two dozen children point and laugh at my expense.

Much to my surprise and embarrassment; hot tears welled in my large brown eyes. I wanted them to stop; wanted it so much that I was nearly desperate. The moisture spilled down my cheeks and onto my chin; soon I was sobbing through the noise.

I still couldn't speak. _Why_ couldn't I speak?

I didn't know what to do.

Suddenly something dawned on me. I had never had a normal childhood; not at the hospital or here with either Gai or Junko. This of course meant that I had never dealt with children; which probably explained why I was clamming up so bad now.

I nearly slapped my forehead; was this my fear? Would I be the ninja that was terrified of _children_? Or at least talking to them; I hadn't had this problem when I was sitting next to them after all. Come to think about it, I had talked to Naruto without this problem.

I wonder why I was so comfortable around him?

For the first time since he had become my father; I found myself wishing that Gai would swoop in to save me. He at least would not hesitate to speak his mind; in fact he would probably confuse the kids with how 'un-youthful' bullying was. Looking over the heads of the children hopefully, my quivering lip fell into a frown at what I saw.

He wasn't there; none of the parents were. I hadn't realized it before; but sometime during my little trance they had all left. They were probably outside, waiting for us to return from Mizuki-sensei's class.

I blinked, just now remembering that little piece of information. Shouldn't we all be in there by now?

"Stop it!" An angry voice called suddenly, cutting through both my thoughts and the noise. Startled, I wiped my tear blurry eyes and stared with wide eyes at a new figure in our midst. Short yet somehow intimidating; a brown haired, blue eyed boy glared out at us all.

"What are you _doing_?!" He cried as he began to fiercely plow through the mob. Every set of surprised eyes fell on him in a moment of newly renewed silence. When he went as far as literally throwing a girl out of his way; the rest of the kids parted before him like water.

Was he from a clan? I wondered briefly as I watched him. It was the only explanation for how he had cowed them all so quickly. Clan kids were basically bred to be leaders after all.

Now that I really thought about it, the first boy was probably part of a clan too; what with that confidence he was practically radiating. The possibility made the thought of a confrontation a bit more interesting, not to mention dangerous. Clan kids were trained since before they could walk; they could actually get hurt if this came to blows.

I shifted nervously on my feet; cursing that I still couldn't find the words to stop them. Talking wasn't any easier; not even with someone on my side. If anything, his arrival made me _more _nervous.

When the new boy got in front of my original tormentor; he poked the taller boy viciously in the chest. "What's the matter with you?!" He seethed, waving over in my direction with a glare. "Can't you see she's _crying_?!"

The sleek haired boy did not back down (not that this was too shocking); instead he chose to glare. "What do you care?" He spat out. "I bet she already knows how useless she is."

The shorter boy narrowed his blue eyes and opened his mouth (probably to say something nasty) but I suddenly cut him off. Whether it was because the laughter had stopped or because of how adult these two were acting; my voice had finally decided to make an appearance and just in time too.

With the looks they were shooting, these two could start a fight any minute; something I definitely _didn't _want.

Besides, as I had been sitting here crying for the past 20 minutes; I was ready to show them that crying was _not _all I was capable of.

"Stop it." I demanded coolly; not yelling and not asking either. "You'll get in trouble if you fight."

The two boys looked up in union; both of them wearing identical surprised expressions.

I forced myself not to focus on anyone else; unless I lose my confidence. I still was around children after all. The boys were mature enough that they didn't really seem like kids; but I wasn't too sure I wouldn't break again under the surveillance of the others.

I _hated _not being able to speak my mind.

"He should_ already _be in trouble." The clan boy complained, jutting a figure at the other boy accusingly. "He was mean _and _he disobeyed Mizuki-sensei."

"You'll be in trouble too." The braided boy commented dryly, sighing as he turned towards the exit. "This isn't fun anymore, I'm going to class."

The large doors swung behind him as he left; singing again as the rest of our (very confused looking) class followed behind. It took only a minute, but Soon it was only my rescuer and me; alone in the suddenly too-large auditorium.

I could have said something more, I really could; but when I was suddenly faced with the largest pair of puppy eyes that I'd ever seen. . .well, let's just say that the floor suddenly became riveting.

"Aww," The kid whined, now (much to my horror) sounding every bit of his 5 years. "Why'd you scare him off?"

I continued my stare down with my shoes; hearing what he said but still unable to respond. Why did he care if I scared him off anyway? If I hadn't they would've fought.

After the silence continued the boy spoke up again; obviously getting that I would not be replying.

"You're not talking now?" He asked curiously as he tried to make eye contact by leaning down and sticking his face in mine. When all I did was move away, he added: "I don't bite you know."

I fidgeted, edging towards the door with (hopefully) subtle movements. Why couldn't he just go away? Sure, I was thankful he had saved me; but this was just getting awkward. The boy didn't get the hint; instead, he thrust his chubby little hand under my chin.

"I'm Hanaki Akio." He introduced brightly; giving a surname that (though it wasn't in the series) I still recognized from the talk of Gai's comrades. Huh, so I was right; he _was _a clan kid.

When I didn't shake the hand or speak at all; the fingers under my nose wiggled in what I think was supposed to be a tempting way. I stared at them before finally shaking his hand with a very weak grip; after all, not being able to speak was no excuse to be rude.

The boy _had _just saved me.

"You know," Akio chuckled, moving his hand to ruffle my hair (he only chuckled more when I scowled, the ass) "It's considered polite to introduce yourself back."

Turning a bit pale at the prospect of actually having to say something; I shook my head furiously, trying to convey that I simply _couldn't_ do what he asked. Doing this meant actually breaking my death stare with the ground; so it wasn't too surprising that I saw his playful smile.

Suddenly his hand was on my wrist and the boy I just met was dragging me towards the exit. "Well," Akio said cheerfully as I was tugged along behind him like a rag doll. "If you won't tell me then I'll just have to guess." Placing one finger on his chin, he gave me a long look.

_Or_, I thought sarcastically as we slid into the classroom (much, much later than anyone else) _You could just wait until Mizuki-sempai calls role._

"Aimi." He stated firmly, his first choice making me blink. 'Beautiful love'? Really? This was a 5 year old, don't tell me he was already trying to flirt.

Jeez, if this wasn't a sign of a future womanizer; I didn't even _want _to know what was.

I shook my head with an eye roll; briefly noticing that Mizuki-sensei hadn't even noticed our arrival. Ironically enough, because he was scolding the others for tardiness; we had slipped under his radar.

Akio dragged me two empty seats in the back of the auditorium styled classroom; a thoughtful frown once more displayed on his features.

"Hikaru." He guessed again, this time going with a name that basically meant 'radiant light'. I sighed, but shook my head nonetheless; once more sending him into deep thought.

"No I got it!" He cried and (ignoring the annoyed looks of the rest of the class) excitedly turned to me. "It's Kotone!"

I had just given him a weird look (I mean, how in the hell did 'harp sound' relate to me?) when Mizuki exasperatingly announced that we could finally (even though I had literally just gotten there) leave to go home.

Seeing his exhausted face, I kinda felt sorry for the guy; I mean this _was_ the first day. Poor guy probably just had what was supposed to be a short class grow a full hour longer; all because his entire class decided not to show up.

It almost made me feel guilty; seeing that_ I_ was the reason they were late. Well laughing at me was the reason they were late; but it was still somewhat my fault.

"Well?" Akio asked impatiently; tugging on my shirt as he followed me out. "Is it your name or not?"

"No!" I snapped suddenly; only blinking in surprise when I realized that I had actually spoken to the guy, all child induced shyness suddenly gone. "No, it's not! Alright?"

Akio stared at me, stopping so suddenly that I nearly walked right into him. So slowly I nearly missed it, a bright grin appeared on his face. "So you can talk! Will you tell me your name now?"

I nearly glared before I stopped myself. I mean, why not? I had no idea why my voice box had become functional again (maybe he had just been annoying enough for me to forget my fears); and it wasn't like I had ever had a reason _not _to tell him.

Well, that and the fact that he had saved me from a terrifying hoard of laughing children.

"It's Maito Kaori." I mumbled finally; earning an even brighter smile from the boy next to me.

"Finally!" He cheered, pumping his fist into the air (and earning a few strange looks from the gathered parents) the moment we walked out into the afternoon air.

I don't know why I didn't expect it; but Gai, seeing me with a boy, was immediately by our side. He gave Akio a very calculating look as I sighed heartedly from the sidelines. Akio jumped when adult burst into random tears; I didn't.

"Oh what youthfulness Kaori-chan!" He exclaimed as Akio watched with very wide eyes. "To be experiencing the eternal youth of love at so young an age!"

I sighed, waiting with a much practiced patience for my father to let me go. "Dad we're not in love." I explained calmly, surprising Akio even more (though if it was the 'dad' or the me not being shy that did it I'll never know). Knowing that Gai was probably already suspicious of Akio anyway, I threw in something a little extra for Akio's sake.

"He saved me from a bully today; he got the other kids to stop laughing too." I pretended to pout, pounding on the childish innocence as I told him how I had felt.

The eyes of the boy next to me almost fell out of their sockets; after the face I had shown inside, I doubt he had ever expected me to act this way.

Gai, on the other hand, actually seemed impressed. In the ninja world adults would usually let children fight their own battles; but team work was also very much encouraged. That Akio had stepped his probably marked him as a better ninja.

I wonder where that put me? I was just the young (well to them I was) girl that was afraid of interacting with kids her own age.

Hmm. It was official. By ninja standards I was pathetic.

"You, my miniature friend, have the makings of a great ninja." Gai cut in, beaming at (the still freaked out) Akio. Bingo. It seemed I was right on the money with this one. I sighed and turned to ask Gai if we could go home; when Akio cut me off.

The picture of politeness (probably from being a clan kid) the boy let out: "But it wasn't all me either; _she_ scared them off. When she wasn't being all shy, she was kind of scary."

The green ninja gave me a bit of a look when Akio called me shy; making me blush slightly under his brief gaze. Being scared of interaction with kids was embarrassing and definitely _not _the sign of a great ninja. To tell the truth, the thought of admitting to this new fear almost made me sick.

Gai, for all his flaws; was still the only real father that I'd ever really had. I wanted his approval more than anyone else's.

So when he smiled his blinding smile and proudly said: "Yes, Kaori-chan has those makings as well." I beamed under the praise.


	4. Chapter 4

_**D: I do not own any Naruto copyrights.**_

It was on my second day at the Academy that I figured out something rather important; it was then that I (finally) discovered where in the timeline I had landed.

To be honest, what I discovered was in no way what I had been expecting.

It happened during lunch break, when me and Akio (the boy had yet to leave me alone) were eating our bentos. I was peacefully munching on my rice with chopsticks that had taken a good portion of my childhood to master; when suddenly a loud '_KAORI-CHAN_!' was screamed across the courtyard.

I barely had time to look up before a blond blur slammed straight into me. Imagine Akio's surprise when we (powered by momentum) kept on going until we had crashed into him as well.

As Akio had been taking a sip of juice at the time, all three of us wound up drenched with the stuff when we finally ground to a halt. The two of us (as in Akio and me) shook off the orange liquid with identical expressions of disgust; looks we soon shot at the blond boy before us, as he had burst out laughing.

I recognized our attacker and my nasty look instantly disappeared; replaced by a good natured eye roll. It was Naruto; a grinning, _laughing _Naruto that looked a lot more the boy he should be than the boy he had been in the park. He didn't look angry, alone, or sad anymore; only bright and smiling. It made me curious as to what had made him change.

"Sorry about that." Naruto chuckled as he rubbed a sheepish hand through his hair. "Iruka sensei caught me painting the bathroom mirror." The boy chuckled again before another grin lit up his face. He didn't elaborate as to why he was running; but he didn't really have to. Iruka had been infamous for getting after Naruto's pranks in the series; there was no reason for that to change now.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before both Akio and I watched a very pissed off Iruka run into view; screaming Naruto's name as he (and Naruto looked rather relieved at this) passed us by.

I rolled my eyes again, (I was just beginning to remember who Naruto had been in his academy days) and opened my mouth to tell him it was fine. Akio however, decided it was best to cut me off. As he probably thought Naruto was a stranger to me (even though the kid _had_ screamed my name); I doubt he expected me to be able to speak at all.

"Go away," The clan boy hissed, moving to stand in front of me. "We don't want someone like _you _here." At first his tone confused me (it sounded far too nasty to use on someone you just met); and then I remembered something.

Before he became a genin; Naruto had been hated by _everyone_. Suddenly I recalled how ecstatic the kid had been when I had announced myself his friend.

Had I really been the first person to _ever _show him kindness?

My confused look vanished as I looked at Akio's back with a furious scowl; hating to think that such a nasty thing would apply to him as well. What had Naruto ever done to him? It wasn't like having the Kyuubi made _him _the monster. Couldn't Akio see how his words had all but ripped the happiness from Naruto's face?

My fists clenched tightly as I shoved Akio out of the way; I didn't even care that the other boy's look of fury had transformed into one of hurt.

Positioning myself directly between the two boys; I shot Akio a vicious glare.

He made me sick.

"What do you have against Naruto?" I demanded hotly, extremely conscious of the blonde's awed eyes on me. "He's my friend and I won't let you be mean to him. I thought you didn't like bullies; way to prove it."

"But. . ." Akio started only to stop and bite his lip at my glare. He looked shocked beyond words; something that wasn't too surprising if you considered how shy I had been around him until now.

To him, seeing me like this was probably something like seeing the Hokage in a tutu. It (as far as I knew anyway) just didn't happen.

"He's a kid just like the rest of us." I stated firmly, my eyes daring him to disagree with me. "Get to know him _before _you decide you don't like him."

Hanging his head in shame; I watched skeptically (ready to step in if he was mean to Naruto again) as my self-proclaimed friend stepped around me. After a very deep breath, Akio stuck out his hand.

"I'm sorry." He said as Naruto cautiously shook his offered hand (the poor guy's eyes were practically bulging out of his head) "I don't know you and it was stupid of me to judge you."

I beamed as Naruto muttered a quiet acceptance of Akio's apology; returning instantaneously to the boy I had met in the park. I felt (though it makes me feel old to say it) _proud _of Akio.

I mean, this kid was _five _for Pete's sake; never in my wildest dreams had I expected him to be this mature. Then again, in this world kids grew up fast; we _were_ expected to be trained killers by 12.

Was this maturity _normal_ here? I looked at Naruto as he and Akio struck up a (very tentative and awkward) conversation.

He wasn't any more mature than a kid would have been in my old world (not that I would have been the best judge of that) but maybe he was expected to be; as, from what I knew anyway, he had been given an apartment before he graduated.

Come to think of it, when _did _Naruto graduate? Had he already started trying? Was he in the same year as the other rookie nine yet? Or maybe he was in their year _every _year (the series had never had much to say about how the academy worked); had he just tried to take the graduation exam before everyone else?

I looked at the blond curiously, scratching my head as I did so. When he looked up (he had probably felt me staring at him) I piped up and voiced my questions.

"Naruto, what year are you in?" I asked innocently, "You said you started already but you never said when."

"Oh, I um. . ." Naruto started, suddenly coming across as a bit nervous. "I started last year. I just turned 6."

I pondered that for a moment; if I was a year younger than him than I would be either older or younger (depending on how the Academy system worked) than the other genin in the series. After a few seconds, I fired a new question.

"Hey Naruto, do you have any friends in your year?"

A frown fell upon Naruto's face as I waited anxiously for his reply. This was the moment (or at least close to the moment) where I finally figured out where in the timeline I was. I really, _really _hoped I wasn't younger than all the main genin; I would hate to have to miss half the plot because I hadn't even graduated yet.

"No one likes me," Naruto stated sadly, though he continued before I could comfort him. "Sometimes Kiba, Choji, and Shikamaru will skip class with me though." In an action that I was beginning to learn meant he was embarrassed; Naruto ran his hand through his hair.

I almost groaned, not at the gesture, but at what his information meant for me. I, Kaori Maito, was exactly 1 year younger than Naruto and the rest of the rookie nine.

Great, just great, I wouldn't even graduate until after the Sasuke arch; and even then I'd be doing D-ranks for months.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

After that, my days in the Academy began to fall into a steady routine. In the mornings that he wasn't on missions, I would train with Gai (a man who was constantly coming up with new cruel and unusual exercises) and then head back home for breakfast. We'd walk together to the Academy while I'd listen to him chatter about 'youthfulness' and 'power'. Occasionally he'd stop to challenge Kakashi (this was actually a rather common thing with him) but eventually we'd end up at the Academy gates and he's say goodbye.

On the day's Gai was away on missions, my days usually ended up a bit differently. I'd still train in the morning (though not nearly as hard) and I still went home to shower and such, but I could never really find it in me to _eat _alone. It just reminded me of the hospital days to much for my own good; reminded me of how it felt to eat nasty hospital dinners alone in a sterile bed because my mother was working, paying off _my _bill.

So I asked Naruto if I could join him for _his_ breakfast (he was ecstatic) and ended up finding out first hand just how good Ichiraku's really was. Let's just say that, if you wanted to find out what heaven in food form tasted like, you went to Ichiraku's.

In class, I would like to say that I was a model student and excelled in everything; but unfortunately, that's not quite true. It was the writing and reading that really got to me; as it had never really occurred to me before just how _bad _I was at these things.

Japanese had never been my first language (and it wasn't like Junko would have bothered) so I never quite got the early start on reading and writing that I should have. I did learn to read eventually around the time I turned 4; though that was mainly through studying Gai's only book.

This, ironically enough; was a Taijutsu handbook.

Suffice to say that learning to read from such a book stunted my vocabulary quite a bit. Thankfully by the time I had failed my (third) written test; Mizuki-sensei caved into giving me private lessons and I began to improve at a more normal rate.

Unfortunately, this was only _one _of my problems.

On the first day bullies had been quite the problem for me (mainly because I couldn't actually speak around them); and, for the first month or so, a lot of them continued to tease me. The main antagonist was the boy with black braids from the first day; his name was Chiyoki Katsu, and he was the bane of my existence.

The boy was mean, spiteful, and ruthless; which, combined with a knack of knowing where I was, made him irritating _very _quickly.

In the first few months, Katsu would gather hoards of school children to ambush me almost daily. No matter how many times Akio would defend me or Naruto would prank them; they were always there. It would have gotten quite unbearable if it wasn't for one important detail; and that detail was Taijutsu.

Ah Taijutsu class; I guess they just didn't know what to do when they figured out how easily their victim could beat _them _up.

Gai hadn't trained me since I was two for me to be the worst in the class after all. It only took me once to figure out that I was far from a disappointment.

I wasn't the worst, not by a long shot; in fact, I was the best.

In Taijutsu class I didn't have to speak, nor did I have to figure out ways to make the other kids like me. All I had to do was beat down my opponent, wait, and then beat down the next one; never once did I (though everyone else seemed to enjoy shouting insults) speak aloud. After countless battles where I was the victor; not only did the bullies back off, but I developed quite the reputation as well.

I think the English translation was: 'silent but deadly'. I liked it.

Katsu was the only one who didn't back down after my Taijutsu prowess became known (turns out he was somewhat of a natural himself); though for some reason he _did _stop teasing me. Instead he would pop up wherever my little group had situated themselves and try to induct himself into our conversation.

Akio and Naruto never hesitated to chase him off of course; but I couldn't help to wonder why he had suddenly become so persistent.

Eventually my first year came and went; and Akio and I entered our second year along with everybody else.

Apparently this was the year that we started something that proved to be rather interesting (not to mention something I'd all but forgotten about); we began our chakra classes.

I was pretty average at this, no better or worse than any of the other kids. I had a chakra system and could (after quite a bit of concentration) tap into it, but I was in no means extraordinary. In some ways my mediocrity disappointed me; I guess I had just been hoping that my unusual circumstances would give me a bit of an _edge_.

Not to mention that _Akio _of all people was declared a chakra prodigy (something to do with his clan); and Mizuki sensei never failed to praise him for it. I'll admit it, I was insanely jealous.

Come on, how unfair was it that I, the inter-dimensional traveler, was only _average _at the most important thing of being a ninja?

I never voiced it to Akio of course; he _was _my only friend in my year after all. I didn't want to risk our friendship over something so stupid. That didn't necessarily mean he didn't _guess _though; in fact I wasn't all too surprised he did.

If there was one thing I wasn't good at; it was hiding my thoughts when something bugged me.

Akio didn't actually confront me until the end of the year; but I'm guessing he figured it out quite a while before then.

It was one of those days that Gai was away on a mission; so I was helping Naruto study for his first final exams in one of the Academy training grounds. It wasn't like I was much help (I _was _younger than Naruto) or that I really expected him to pass, but that didn't stop me from trying to make the kid as ready for this as he could possibly be.

Akio approached us when we were half-way through kunai practice; so when he tapped me on the shoulder (not too smart to startle an armed 6-year-old) I almost sent one straight though him.

"Oh! Sorry!" I called as Akio pulled a split-second replacement jutsu, pushing down the familiar sting of jealousy as I ran over to my friend. "I didn't hurt you, did I? I'm so sorr-"

"Kaori!" Akio cut me off, sending me an 'I'm _fine_' gesture with his hands as he began to chuckle. "You didn't kill me, alright. You didn't even hurt me."

"Yeah!" Naruto cried enthusiastically as he too ran over to us. "Did you _see _that replacement jutsu? Oh man I'm so jealous! I wish I could do that!"

At the mention of Akio's feat of chakra genius, I scowled slightly; something that both Naruto and Akio (we weren't trained to be ninjas for nothing) noticed immediately.

While Naruto looked confused; Akio sighed and frowned to himself. That was the moment when I realized that he knew; that my jealousy hadn't been quite as subtle as I had imagined.

Ashamed, I hung my head. "Sorry." I mumbled; this time in no way referring to the kunai incident.

Rather than answer me, Akio walked to his replacement log and wrestled my kunai free; after a moment's pause, he handed it to Naruto.

"Why don't you just keep practicing Naruto?" Akio suggested with an amiable smile. "I'm going to have to steal Kaori-chan for a bit."

I bit my lip when Naruto cheerfully agreed. Why did I feel like I was in for a scolding here? Only when Naruto had trotted back over to the training dummies did Akio finally turn back to me. His first words were a statement, not a question.

"You're jealous of me."

I looked down at my shoes, suddenly feel the shyness (that hadn't been present around Akio for nearly two years) rear its ugly head. Rather than reply verbally; I nodded instead.

Akio sighed. "And you're jealous that I'm good with chakra?"

I nodded again; Akio sighed again. Inwardly I braced myself, fully expecting to get the full force of his anger. I expected his next words to end our friendship forever; instead, I was surprised.

"Well, that's stupid."

My head shot up instantly; I was shocked. I had just spent the better part of the year in petty jealousy; all he could say was that he thought I was being _stupid_? I blinked, and then I began to laugh. It was such an Akio thing to say that I don't even know why I hadn't considered it before.

"I guess it is, isn't it?" I got out after my laughter had died down and my voice had returned. "I guess I just thought it was unfair that you were so good at something useful."

"Useful." Akio repeated, sounding a bit dumbfounded. "You have beaten every person in our class to a pulp. . . and you think controlling _chakra_ is more useful?" He sounded incredulous, like he thought my brain was missing a few screws.

"Well _yeah_." I replied with a pout (I didn't quite like what his tone was implying), crossing my arms. "All I can do is beat people up; you can _blow _them up. Plus I'm not exactly a natural; my dad has basically raised me in Taijutsu. I've been training since I was two."

Suddenly Akio burst into his own fit of laughter (he was practically bent over double); and his reply came out in the gaps between his uncontrollable chuckles. "You thought _I_ was a _natural_?"

There was a long moment (with me scowling all the while) where he kept laughing; it was nearly ten minutes before he finally quieted down.

I shot him a half-meaningful glare. "Are you saying that you're _not_?" This was the boy that already knew jutsu that were not taught in school after all; there was no _way _that he wasn't a prodigy.

"Oh course I'm not!" He cried with a sort of wheezy voice. "My clan specializes in the manipulation of chakra, I've been drilled in it since before I could _walk._"

I pondered that for a moment; still finding what he was saying hard to believe. Even if it was in his blood then that didn't mean he wasn't a prodigy. Hinata hadn't been the best at _her _clan trait after all. Akio being so good just meant that he was even _more _of a natural then I had originally thought.

"It takes more than years of training to get that good." I told him sternly, voicing my thoughts. "If that was all it took, then everyone in your clan would be as good as you are."

For some reason (and this instantly made me _very_ suspicious) this made Akio grin. "Well if that's the case," he told me, "Then that makes you just as much a prodigy as I am."

I scoffed. How ridiculous. _Me_? A prodigy? Pssh, like _that_ would ever happen.


	5. Chapter 5

_**D: I do not own Naruto Copyrights.**_

"If I cannot do 500 pushups, then I will do 1000 punches!" Gai cried between breathes as he pushed off from the ground. I wasn't counting, but I'd guess this to be somewhere around his 200th pushup.

He shot his trademark grin over to where I was doing my own pushups and gave me thumbs up. Over the years this had become somewhat of a competition (that I _never _won), so I called back a response in the same way I'd been doing for years, uncommitted and disinterested.

"And I guess I'll do 600."

I knew Gai was frowning even though I was still face down in the dirt. That was always his reaction when I didn't respond to training with the right amount of 'youth'.

Under my breath I began my countdown. "3. . .2. . .1."

"Oh my daughter where is your youthful energy?" Gai cried (he had launched to his feet) as he yanked me out of the dirt to hug me. "You need to challenge yourself; a ninja must always strive to improve!"

I looked up and sighed in a good natured sort of way. He was crying again.

"Fine, Fine." I gave in with a laugh, gently wriggling from his suffocating hug (I had been calling them 'Monster Hugs' for a while now) and dropping lightly to the ground. "I guess I'll do 1000 too. It's not like we don't have time."

And we _did_ have time; it was only an hour past dawn. Curse whatever possessed Gai to wake us up so early just for his training. The man was grinning now. I wonder if he ever realized that we went through this exact same routine every morning.

"That's the spirit Kaori-chan!" He cheered as he dragged me over to the punching logs. "And as neither of us completed 500 push-ups, both of us will have to complete 1000 punches!"

I groaned and (sue me if I was whining) began to protest.

"But _you_ were the one that stopped us from completing the push-ups!"

Gai just laughed and threw his first punch. "It doesn't matter Kaori-chan, we did not finish them."

Rather than go to my own log, I went to the other side of Gai's to begin my punches. The kind of punches me and Gai would throw wouldn't exactly be light after all, there was no need for the Genin who cleaned this up to have to clean up _two _pulverized logs.

'_Crack!'_

A twig snapped and Gai's head shot up instantly, his hands already holding three sharp kunai each. At first I froze, unsure of what to do, but after a moment I mirrored his actions and got out kunai of my own.

It had only been a second but already there were two very armed ninjas (well, one ninja in training), ready to face down the intruder in the woods.

"Come out my friend." Gai called out in a good natured sort of way as he began to idly spin one of the kunai. "Why don't you tell us why you're here."

There was a sound like a whimper (that immediately told me that there was no way this was a ninja) and then the bush where the twig had snapped began to shake. We watched with skeptical eyes as someone (who was much shorter than we expected) stumbled out.

I nearly dropped my kunai.

"Katsu?" I let out, dumbfounded as ever at the sight of the braided boy. "What are you _doing _here?"

"I. . . uh. . ." Katsu began, looking (and this was amazingly strange for him) sheepish. "I heard you'd be here. I was wondering if we could hang out."

I blinked, wondering if Gai had accidentally knocked me out during training or something. It would make sense; there was no way Chiyoki Katsu would ever ask _me _to hang out. He had bullied me back in my first year, even if he hadn't done it in the four years following. Hell, I hadn't even _talked _to him since Akio chased him off at Naruto's third final exam.

Was it just me, or was Katsu actually_ blushing_?

Desperate for some help I turned to Gai only to find out that, not only had the guy put away his weapons, but he was grinning as well. I groaned loudly at the sight, recognizing right off what my father thought was going on.

Oh great, he had gotten the _completely _wrong idea.

"Oh what youthfulness!" Gai cried, gathering both me and Katsu into one of his bone crushing hugs and bursting into tears. "Kaori-Chan is already stricken by the spirit of love!" He kept crying and I sighed heavily at the dramatics. Katsu looked beyond stunned.

Love? Poor kid, Gai was terrifying him.

"Dad," I said sternly as I pulled out of the bear hug. "I'm not stricken by the spirit of _anything_."

Gai just continued to grin before he kneeled down close to Katsu, saying (much to my horror): "Do not worry my young friend! Kaori-chan does not always realize what is in front of her."

He never stopped grinning and, in my opinion, this made this much, much worse.

"Dad!" I squeaked (and tried to mask the fact that I _had_ squeaked) before marching over and grabbing his arm. "We need to train!"

"You are right Kaori-chan, we _do _need to train." Gai said seriously, his face taking on a look he only got when he was thinking _really _hard about something. Finally he marched over and grabbed Katsu's arm with a scary looking smile on his face.

"And let our new young friend train with us!"

I cringed, thinking about Gai's version of _training_. Forget about 'hanging out', Katsu would hate me after this.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Strangely enough (or maybe not _that _strange) Katsu never showed up at the morning training sessions with Gai again. Honestly, I wasn't surprised in the least. He had left that day covered in bruises and barely able to walk, it was enough for me to fully expect to be done with him for good.

Yet, for all the beatings Gai gave him, he still came around.

It was usually at school, and never when Gai was there, but sometimes I would see him other places too. He never stayed long because Naruto and Akio drove him off instantly, but it was like he always made it a point to try.

So while the boys complained about him, I began to wonder. What reason could Katsu have for this, for getting his ass handed to him by both my father and my friends? This boy had been the bane of my existence in first year, but now it was nearly the end of 5th year. Why hadn't he left me alone?

I was 10; there were only two more years until I became a full blown ninja. You'd think he'd realize that I wasn't a kid he could tease anymore.

There were other things that happened that year though, things besides my growing Katsu problem. One of those was something I'd known would happen but never expected to happen so soon; Gai quit the ANBU.

He told me after training, during breakfast. I nearly spit my cereal all over the table, and even then Gai had to pound me on the back to get me to quit choking. All I could think about was that it was all starting now, that Gai would go become a sensei and everything in the show would begin to happen.

Almost as if he could read my mind, Gai admitted to me the other part of his plan.

"I signed up to be a Jounin Sensei for the new Genin!" He exclaimed happily once I stopped choking from the first bit of news.

"Why?" I let out in what I hoped was a less scared voice. I should be happy for him, not scared. A Jounin Sensei was a much less dangerous job than being in the ANBU after all; me being scared wouldn't make any sense at all to him.

He couldn't know that I had just realized that events like Orochimaru's invasion were much closer than I had originally thought they were.

"To shape the future minds of Kohona!" He replied, still happy and unaware of my nerves. "I get assigned my new team the day after this year's final exam. Come by and meet them Kaori-chan! Maybe some of them will even be your friends!"

I forced a smile on my face, still thinking of Orochimaru, the Sound 4, Sasuke, Akatsuki and Naruto. After a moment's pause I replied, "Sure dad, sounds fun."

I'll admit, a part of me was actually excited to meet Gai's team. It was only the other part that was scared senseless.

I had almost forgotten what made me not want to be a ninja in the first place.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Naruto was swinging on the Academy's swing again and, as much as it made me sad, I knew I couldn't go over there and talk to him about it. This was the fourth time he'd failed, he'd want to be left alone.

I bit my lip with the maternal kind of worry I always felt for Naruto. He'd been just _sitting _there for nearly two days now, even _after _Iruka had tried (by taking him to _Ichiraku's_ of all places) to cheer him up.

I was worried that Naruto would actually consider giving up. I took a step towards the blond boy. Maybe I should try to convince him to just try again next year, he would pass that year for sure.

"Naruto's strong." Akio said from besides me, his voice making me jump because I didn't know he was there. "Don't worry about him Kaori-chan, there's no way he'll give up."

I turned to stare at my friend (convinced he had somehow managed to read my mind) only to find that Akio was now giving me one of his brilliant grins.

"Have a little faith," My friend told me with a carefree tone, "This is _Naruto_, we both know him and what he's like. Saying he'll give up is like saying the Hokage's going to fail us, it's never going to happen."

I smiled, he was right (well he was if you didn't count the Hokage's impending death as a failure), I needed to have more faith in our friend.

"You know you're right Akio," I teased lightly before turning to walk out of the Academy's yard. "But I have to go, I promised to meet my dad's new genin team today."

"You're dad? The hard core ninja you're always bragging about?" Akio asked, looking a little shocked. I just smiled and kept walking

Akio just took that as his cue to keep talking. "I didn't know he was a sensei now. Was he demoted or something?" His voice was farther away now, yet I still didn't turn to see his expression. He probably didn't even know I was still smiling.

"No," I called over my shoulder, knowing that he could still hear me. "He wanted to teach."

If Akio heard me then he either didn't reply or I was too far away to hear him if he did. It didn't matter much to me either way really.

I just continued walking through the streets of my village, waving amiably to the people and children that I knew.

I don't know why, but I was suddenly in a far better mood than I had been when I had spotted Naruto sitting on his swing earlier. Maybe it was the conversation with Akio, I don't really know, all I know is that I was now certain he'd be alright.

I swung my arms lightly at my side and hummed a tune that I didn't really know. The training grounds weren't all that far from where I was now and the walk itself was actually quite nice. The warm breeze had me wanting to stop and take it all in, to bask in the blue sky. bright sunshine and green grass.

My good mood probably would have lasted longer had a screeching cat not attacked my face.

I yelled and thrashed as a twenty pound ball of pure hell ripped and tore at my face, followed shortly after by three sets of apologetic genin hands. Finally one of my (far from professional) rescuers ripped the howling creature from my face, leaving me actually able to see who they were.

Well what do you know? It was Gai's team.

Neji, Tenten and Gai all stared down at me with wide eyes while Lee wrestled with Torra (as I was assuming the devil cat to be). After a moment I came to the embarrassing realization that I had been knocked down sometime during the initial rush, though thankfully it wasn't long before Tenten helped me to my feet.

Unfortunately, this was also the moment when Gai seemed to realize what had just happened.

"Kaori-chan!" He cried as he rushed over to my side, ever the mother hen. "Have you been hurt by that horrible feline?"

"No," I said with a bit of a sigh, sensing the eyes of the three Genin before me. They all looked rather confused actually; I wonder if they realized who I was yet.

Gai either didn't hear me or he ignored me, because he continued checking my scratches in an almost comic way. Rolling my eyes, I sighed again, only this time in a much more exasperated way.

"_Dad_," I insisted, "I'm _fine_."

Almost as one, all three of Gai's genin gasped.

"Gai-sensei is you're _father_?" Lee practically squealed, nearly dropping Torra in the process. "Oh you are so lucky! Gai-sensei must be the most amazing and attentive father there is!"

I had almost forgotten how devoted to Gai Lee was, I guess this proved that the series hadn't gotten that wrong.

To be honest, Tenten and Lee almost looked like they were in shock. Both of them were staring at me rather intently actually, like they were looking for something. It's resemblance I realized with a snort of laughter; going back to the day I had first met Gai all those years ago. They can't see any resemblance.

"I. . . uh . . . You guys don't really look alike." Tenten told me awkwardly, her hand almost reflexively moving to touch her eyebrows. It was obvious what part she was surprised that we didn't share.

Neji just looked at me like he thought I would combust. He must have been around Gai long enough to get what he was like, the kid probably expected me to burst into speeches of 'youthfulness' any minute now.

I think they were all beyond surprised that I hadn't been brainwashed into wearing Gai's jumpsuit yet.

"Hi," I said politely (my calmness surprising even Lee) as I held out my hand first to Neji, "I'm Maito Kaori."

"Hyuga Neji." The boy replied politely as his clan manners seemed to kick in. "Pleasure to meet you."

I turned to Tenten and she shook my hand in a much less practiced and awkward way. She had barely gotten out "Tenten" before Lee was pushing her out of the way.

I watched with wide (and somewhat alarmed) eyes as Lee shoved the still yowling cat onto Gai and then proceeded to shake the living daylights out of my arm. He it seemed had _plenty_ of questions about Gai.

He was so much like Gai that (I'll admit it) I wanted to run the other way and never look back.

It took a while, but Lee eventually calmed enough for me to cut off his flood of questions. As I wasn't supposed to know it yet, I politely asked his name.

"I'm Rock Lee!" He cried, black braid swinging as he struck a pose eerily similar to Gai's. "I'm going to be the greatest ninja of all time!"

_I'm going to be the next Hokage!_

I smiled, the boy before me was so much like Naruto it was almost shocking. I would have even said something nice to him, had Neji not chosen that moment to interrupt me.

"Don't we need to turn the cat in?"

And just like that, Gai was back in 'sensei mode'. "You are right, Neji!" He cried as he held the (still screeching) cat over his head like a war trophy. "We need to get Torra back to his loving mistress!"

I sighed, "Should I come back later then?"

Gai just grinned one of his blinding grins. "Yes Kaori-chan! Come back tomorrow, you can help us train!"

We all blinked as he took off towards the Hokage Tower, literally leaving a long trail of dust in his wake. After a moment of staring in disbelief, we groaned as one.

Training. . . How _wonderful_, he wanted me to endure _more _of the death defying exercises he made me do in the mornings.

Tenten, Lee, and Neji gave me varying looks of apology before jogging out after Gai. It had only been a little over two days since he was assigned to them, but judging by the looks on their faces, I'd bet money they knew _exactly _how harsh his training could get.

Suddenly remembering something, I whipped my head back to where Lee was quickly disappearing. He'd become a Taijutsu master somewhere along the way, I realized with wide eyes. He wasn't now but he'd still get there eventually.

Gai knew that I was the top of my Taijutsu classes, I had seen no reason to hide it from him.

I wonder. . . Would Gai ever try to get me and Lee to have a spar? Flashes of Lee's anime battle with Gaara spun through my mind. This was the kid who almost beat someone whose (at the time at least) only love was killing.

I shivered. Even if it was only in the name of training, would I survive a fight with Lee?


	6. Chapter 6

_**D: I do not own any Naruto Copyrights.**_

"Hey! Kaori-chan!" Naruto called from over where he and Akio were training. "Look at this!" I looked up from my kunai just in time to see the blonde ninja shove his hands into a seal. Akio didn't really seem to notice because he kept up his charge.

It promised to be interesting (and that meant I just _had _to see it) so I fell out of my training stance and turned to face the two fully. Naruto grinned and exploded into a massive cloud of smoke. Akio skidded to a stop immediately, his eyes wide.

"Wha-"The younger boy started only to be cut off. The smoke cleared and Akio gaped; I started laughing so hard I almost fell over.

A much girlier Naruto stood in the clearing, still dressed in Naruto's orange jumpsuit but now sporting two long blonde pigtails. I kept laughing; nearly becoming hysterical. I had forgotten about Naruto's 'sexy jutsu', though I'd guess (judging from the clothes) he hadn't perfected it yet.

Akio was beet red. "_Naruto!_ We're supposed to be _training_!"

I got a hold of myself at last and cut into the conversation before Naruto said anything in response. "Well, I don't know Akio. I think Naruto's stumbled on an excellent aversion tactic here."

Akio shot me a glare, he probably noticed the grin (not to mention the laughing fit I'd just had) hidden subtly in my voice. "You're supposed to be the shy one." He grumbled. "You should be blushing and telling him to stop embarrassing you or something."

I rolled my eyes because I knew that Akio was well aware that my shyness was pretty much limited to children. He just didn't want to admit that it was _him _who was embarrassed. Walking over to the two (or would that be one?) boys, I poked Naruto in the gut.

"Narrow the waste a bit more; you still have the waste of a boy." I paused in a moment of thought. "Make her taller and bigger chested too."

Naruto blinked and it was obvious that he hadn't expected me to react like that. Finally he did the hand seal again and transformed into a modified version of the same jutsu. Akio just looked stunned; it seemed I'd surprised him too.

I gave him a considering look and tapped my chin with an index finger. "Make your jaw more pointed and your lips fuller." I circled the boy once and sighed. Finally I asked. "Do you know _anything_ about the female body?"

Naruto shifted nervously and ran a hand through his hair. It was obvious he didn't know anything; he wasn't even trying to hide it. I nodded, honestly not expecting anything different. Naruto did not have a Taijutsu master as a parent and so he obviously didn't have references (Gai's Taijutsu book was rather detailed) like I did.

Akio was still beet red as he stepped in front of our friend. He pointed a finger at me in what he probably thought was a threatening (it actually looked quite adorable) way. "Don't you even _think_ about helping him." He said. "He needs to train so he can pass the next exam!"

I smiled. For some reason I felt a bit more playful today than I usually did. Maybe I just wanted to act like a kid for once. "Don't worry Akio. I actually have an idea that might be fun on all our parts."

Akio stopped glaring and actually looked interested. Naruto just looked confused.

"What idea?" They said together, sharing a startled look at being so in sync.

"It's simple; Naruto can work on his jutsu _while _we train." I smiled again; only this time I got a feeling that I looked more evil than I should have.

"That doesn't make any sense." Akio said. "He'll be too distracted to fight back."

"No he won't," I replied smugly. "Because every time he gets it wrong, I'll throw kunai at whatever he messed up on. You can just attack him normally Akio. That way he'll have to learn how to defend himself from multiple opponents, do jutsus in battle, and get them right the first time around."

Naruto was starting to look pale. He gulped and held up his hands defensively. "No really guys, on second thought I think I'll just work on it later."

Akio however was now sporting a grin of his own. "It's alright Naruto; Kaori-chan actually has a point." He pulled out a fistful of kunai and fell into his ninja stance. "Why don't we give it a try?"

I leapt back onto a branch of a nearby tree and took out kunai myself, aiming them at Naruto. The blond boy looked terrified but resigned. He transformed into an upgraded version of his jutsu and braced himself.

"Ready." I said and held up a hand. Akio tensed below me, preparing for speed.

"Set." I moved my other hand so the kunai I held would hit (but not nearly hard enough to do any real damage) Naruto's left arm. He had made them too thick to ever belong on a girl.

"Go."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I walked away from Ichiraku's feeling very drained. We had stopped there after training to have a sort celebration. Even Akio had been impressed when our 'training' had actually helped Naruto perfect his new transformation.

Both boys were still in the restaurant as they had started a ramen eating competition somewhere in the midst of our meal. Not wanting to be suckered into paying the bill, I had left soon afterwards.

Not long after I headed out, my sensitive hearing picked up the telltale sound of footsteps behind me. I instantly tensed but (as I didn't want to attack a random civilian who happened to be going the same way) didn't react outwardly. Instead I turned down a side alley that was more out of the way than Kohona's bustling main street. The sound did not go away. Someone was definitely following me.

Narrowing my eyes suspiciously, I started an analysis of my follower in my head. This was basic ninja training; you need to know your enemy before you can beat them. My follower was loud and so was obviously not a ninja themselves. The noise itself was also an indicator, too light for the person to be heavy and too quickly spaced for them to be tall. It was likely that my pursuer was either a woman or a child.

Using speeds attained both through the Academy and through years of training with Gai, I maneuvered myself into a high back flip. Landing right behind the figure that I rightly assumed to be a woman, I stuck the kunai I had just drawn underneath her chin. The woman froze (it probably looked like teleportation to her) and gasped.

"Why are you following me?" I asked in a low whisper, eyeing her suspiciously. The woman didn't answer, but she _did_ try to turn towards me. Curious, I released her and took a step back so that she could move freely.

The back of the woman's curly brown hair was spun out of sight as she turned to reveal a very familiar face. My eyes widened because (though I hadn't seen her since I was two) I still would recognize her anywhere.

"_Junko?_"

My mother smiled sheepishly and edged forward as if she wanted to hug me. Shocked moment over, I glared and held out the kunai in warning. She went still again. "I didn't think you'd recognize me." Junko said at last, she sounded raspier than she did when I was young. "I thought your father wouldn't tell you."

I raised an eyebrow and contemplated telling her that she was actually quite right. Gai had never once told me about her and there were no pictures of her in our apartment. I think he assumed that I didn't remember too. The only reason I _did _was the fact that I had an adult mind at the time it happened.

"I don't want to talk to you." I said instead, glaring at the frail woman in front of me with a hatred I didn't realize I still felt. Why was she here? Did she think that if she could just come back, the years I spent with her would go away? "I don't want anything to do with you."

I went to walk away but Junko grabbed my arm with an almost desperate expression on her face. "Wait!" She cried (I'm a bit stunned to see actual tears) and hugged my arm like it was a lifeline. "Please don't leave me! What do you want? A puppy? Candy? Clothes? I'll buy it for you Kaori-chan!"

I shook her off, honestly more than a little disgusted. Was she really trying to _buy _my love? What type of person did she think I was? "Don't." I practically growled. Her reappearance had shattered the good mood I had been in earlier. "I don't want anything that you could possibly give me."

Suddenly a large hand reached out and pulled me back, away from Junko's pleading. Recognizing it as Gai before I saw him, I stepped back and allowed the man to position himself before me. Unlike Junko, Gai had been so silent that I hadn't noticed him until now. Lee (now well on his way to looking like my father), Neji, and Tenten were there as well, standing defensively behind me. Junko went red at the sight of them.

"Hello Junko-chan," Gai let out in such a pleasant way that (if it wasn't for the menacing look in his eyes) I would have believed it to be a conversation starter. "What a wonderful night for an energizing walk." He frowned and the conversation turned serious. "Perhaps a park would be a better place to have it? Or did you _mean _to run into my daughter?"

"Of course I meant to!" Junko shrieked. "I don't care about the threats of you and that one-eyed ninja! You can't keep me away from her forever!"

Neji grabbed my arm and tried to steer me away but I shrugged him off. A frown has crept onto my features. Threats? Kakashi? (As that's probably who 'one eyed ninja' referred to) What was going on here? Had Gai been actually been keeping Junko from me?

The thought made me smile. If he had then I would be grateful, nothing could change what she had done. Gai turned slightly and saw the smile. Satisfied that I wasn't mad, he turned back to the conversation.

"You were the one who had her first." He said in a voice that was much calmer than the one Junko was using. "Losing her, my friend, was also something that you did."

Junko looked livid. "Friend? I'm not your _friend_! You kidnapped my daughter and turned her into a killer! She _attacked_ me!"

For some reason, I smirked slightly at this and mumbled "I'm technically not a killer until I graduate." It was under my breath but both Neji and Tenten still shot me looks. It was obvious that they didn't think I was helping much.

Gai gave me a questioning look and I shrugged innocently. "I was being followed." I said with a louder voice than I had used with my other statement. "I reacted as soon as I was sure."

My father nodded. To him this was a logical answer, as it was the response any ninja would have reacted with. I think he would have been disappointed if I had done anything else.

Junko saw the approval and did not like it. She scowled viciously. "It _is_ you! I _knew _you would corrupt her! That's why I didn't tell you about her, she wasn't supposed to be yours!"

Gai looked offended and I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one who caught her double meaning. I winced along with all of the genin, it was a low blow.

Rather than let Gai get angry about it however, I walked forward and place a firm hand on his arm. We both know that he can't allow this to get to blows. For all that she _was _a psychotic lunatic; Junko was still very much a civilian. There was no way she'd be a match for a Jounin like my father.

"She's not worth it." I said both quietly and sternly. To both help calm him down and because it was true, I continue with "No matter what she says dad; I'm glad I live with you. I _want _to be a ninja."

Gai burst into tears and enveloped me in a large hug. Junko was temporarily forgotten. "Thank you Kaori-chan!" His hug got slightly tighter as I patted his arm patiently. "I promise that I'll never let you down!"

I looked over to where my mother still stood in the corner. "Let's just go. I _really _don't want to be here anymore."

Gai nodded and signaled to his team. We left with five synchronized bursts of ninja speed (probably for dramatic effect, knowing Gai); the woman who was my mother screamed after us.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

A month after the 'Junko Incident', I sat in the back of my class with Akio. We were talking about medical chakra and the topic was rather boring. Akio yawned and let his face sag down to his desk.

"I'm so _bored_." He complained, though the words come out a little muffled. "I wish Mizuki-sensei was more interesting."

I laughed slightly and looked up from my notes. "It'd probably be more bearable if Katsu was here." I joked. "You could at least bug him to pass the time."

Looking over to where the braided boy usually sat, I frowned. It wasn't like the uptight boy to miss class and (even though I far from liked the kid) I found myself feeling a bit worried.

"Oh who cares about that guy?" Akio said with a sigh. He looked out the window with a wistful expression on his face. "I want to play ninja."

I tapped my pencil on the desk absentmindedly. "So just get Naruto and play after class. I'll even join in if we get some training in afterwards."

Akio didn't answer, instead he leaned more towards the window. One of my eyebrows rose at how openly he stared.

"Something interesting out there?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm not sure . . . but I think that's Katsu down there."

Interested, I subtly scoot over so that I can look out the window too. The window we're at had a view that went straight down into one of the Academy's training yards. A small figure was bashing away at one training dummy after another. There were two long black braids trailing behind him.

"That _is_ him." I looked over to my friend and know that (while he just looks interested) I look worried. "What's he doing? I've never seen him skip class before."

Akio shrugged and grinned mischievously. "Maybe we should tell on him, it'd serve the Teme right."

I smacked him on the shoulder with a scolding glare. "_Akio!_ What if something happened?"

"Why do you care?" The brown hair boy said as he rubbed the spot where I hit him. "I thought you didn't like him either."

I bit my lip and considered for a moment. Sure Katsu wasn't exactly my favorite person in the world but that didn't exactly mean I wanted him to be upset. I raised my hand suddenly and Akio shot me a surprised look.

"Yes, Maito-kun?" Mizuki asked as he pauses in his lecture.

"May I go to the bathroom?"

The sensei nodded. "Don't take too long."

Nodding back, I slipped from my seat and then out the door. Akio gaped from where he still sat in the seat next to mine. I knew that he couldn't believe I was doing this. It was just as hard for me to believe as well.

Rather than going to the bathroom like I promised I would, I went down the stairs that would eventually lead out of the building completely. As the first time I had ever done something like this, (as in skipping class) I held my breath and didn't let it out until I was well outside.

Katsu looked up as I approached him and instantly stopped his brutal attack on the dummies. A frown etched itself into my features when I noticed that he was sporting a brilliant black eye.

"What are you doing?" He asked and subtly tried to hide his face. "School isn't out yet."

"I think the real question is what _you're _doing out here." I countered as one of my fingers snaked up to point at his bruise. "Is that the reason you're suddenly skipping class?"

"No!" Katsu said in a voice that was too quick to be believable. He glared at me. "Why do you care anyway?"

"Because you've been around a lot."

"Well I don't want you to be around now." The boy mumbled half-heartedly. He looked both sulky and ashamed. It was a very clear sign that something was wrong.

I crossed my arms and stared him down; it should be apparent that I had no intention of going anywhere. "What's going on Katsu? And don't say you gave yourself that eye, I won't believe you."

Katsu took a moment and then looked me in the eyes. "I won't tell you." He said firmly. "Unless you can beat me in a fight."

I shot him a confused look. Why would he want to fight me? Him and I had already had plenty of fights during Taijutsu class (mainly because we were the best there) and me beating him wasn't that unusual of an outcome.

"Ok? Just give me a time and place then."

The clan boy was beginning to look a little scary. "Right now." He said. "I need to know_ now_."

I almost said 'Need to know what?' but I didn't have time. Katsu launched forward the moment he had stopped talking and tried to thrust a powerful kick into my gut.

I dodged but there was still effort involved in doing so. That kick had been nowhere near friendly and the boy it had belonged to didn't look any better. He charged me so viciously that his anger unbalanced him.

With a shrug, I leaped over his shoulder and landed a shattering punch in his side. If he didn't want to play nice, I wouldn't either.


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/n: I do not own any Naruto copyrights.**_

Katsu took my punch and rolled, landing so that he could immediately launch a kick at my face. Rather than dodging, I leapt back onto my hands and allowed his leg to pass over me. Pivoting on my palms, I took advantage of my opponent's momentary confusion in a move that Gai would be proud of. Katsu's (still outstretched) leg was knocked aside as I used a pinwheel kick to smash one leg into the underside of his knee and the other one into his jaw.

The braided boy could only gasp as my attack sent him flying towards the training dummies. I didn't want to admit it, but Katsu was beginning to scare me. That kick he had tried to hit me with would have been powerful, enough so that I would've broken my jaw if he'd hit me with it. I didn't know why, but the normally suave clan boy was lashing out in a way that was both wild and reckless.

This wasn't the kind of fight two Academy students should be having.

I grit my teeth and used the momentum from my kick to launch myself well over the still falling form of my opponent. Knowing that I had to end this fight before Katsu ended up hurting himself (or me) any more than he already had, I plowed into his chest with both feet. The training ground erupted with dust as my blow sent both of us crashing to the ground.

I was breathing heavily when the dust cleared, still standing on the prone form of Katsu. He stirred after a moment but I didn't move from my position. Instead I held my hand to his neck in the traditional stance of the winner. I looked at him pointedly to see what he would do.

When he didn't say anything I spoke for him. "Do you surrender?" I asked.

Katsu sighed in a way that seemed far too old for a ten year old boy. After another long moment, he nodded.

I smiled in relief and stepped off of him, using my previously threatening hand to help him up. Katsu muttered his thanks as he awkwardly brushed the dust off his normally pristine clothes. I hadn't noticed before, but his outfit looked like it had already taken a beating long before I'd gotten to it. I shot the braided boy a curious look and remembered what he had said before our sudden fight.

I crossed my arms and cocked my head to the side. "So do you know now?" I asked.

Katsu paused in his task (he had moved on to straightening his hair) and gave me a confused look. "Know what?"

I sighed and uncrossed my arms so that I could run a hand through my hair in a habit that I had (unfortunately) picked up from Naruto. "Know whatever it was that attacking me was supposed to tell you." I said as his words repeated themselves in my head. "You _did_ say something about _needing _to know."

"It doesn't matter, alright!" He snapped (a little too fiercely for my liking) as he aimed a rather vicious glare my way. I was about to snap out a moody retort of my own when Katsu's glare softened. "I don't know anything."

I frowned, the fact that these words were much quieter than his earlier ones not escaping my notice. Suddenly deciding something, I sat down in the dusty grass with a 'plop' and looked up at Katsu. "I'm not going anywhere." I said. "You should tell me about it. We have time and you said you would anyway."

Well, this wasn't exactly true. While Katsu _did _say he'd tell me if I won, we _were_ working on a bit of a time schedule. It was only a matter of time before Mizuki sensei either noticed the fight (we had been pretty loud) or noticed that I'd been gone longer than I should've been. To be perfectly honest, we should just head inside now and avoid any problems.

Yet . . . as much as I didn't want to get in trouble, Katsu looked like he needed this conversation much more than I needed a spotless record.

The braided boy looked suspicious but it was only a moment later that he sat down next to me, crossing his legs in a way that almost looked practiced. He didn't say a word as he sat there and it was only after a full minute of silence that I realized that, if there was to be a conversation at all, I'd have to speak first.

"You said you'd tell me if I won and I did." I said, going for the blunt approach so that he wouldn't be able to weasel his way out of answering. "So the first thing I'm going to ask is how you got that black eye."

Katsu frowned and fidgeted slightly. His eyes moved downwards until he was staring at his feet and he went quiet for a long time. Finally he said: "I got it because I'm weaker than you."

I blinked once before slowly moving to openly gape at the boy before me. He got a _black eye _because of _me_? A horrible feeling of overwhelming guilt settled into the pit of my stomach and I couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if I'd shown off less it Taijutsu class.

"Me?" I breathed, suddenly feeling both sick and disgusted. My gaze hardened as I realized something that should have been apparent. In most cases, injuries like that were _given_, not _created_.

"Katsu," I began in a voice that was much scarier than I expected it to be. From the way Katsu had begun to pale, I'd guess I'd grown a rather fearsome looking scowl as well. "Who did that to you?"

"It doesn't matter." The clan boy said for the second time that day, only this time sounding much meeker than he had before. "I got hurt because I'm supposed to be stronger than you and I'm not, it was my fault."

I shot him an incredulous look. His fault? That had to be the stupidest (and as I lived with Gai, this was saying something) thing I'd ever heard.

"That's just stupid," I said as I voiced my slightly rude thoughts. "You can't be better than everybody, you know."

Katsu looked annoyed at this. "But I have to be!" He practically shouted. "My clan has always been the best!"

I quirked an eyebrow as I finally began to piece together where this conversation was heading. Obviously the slightly unhinged Katsu I'd been seeing today stemmed from some idea of his clan's reputation. _Had one of his family members done this to him?_ I wondered as I subtly examined the boy before me. _Was clan reputation important enough that you'd hurt your family just to protect it?_

"You're not though." I replied back bluntly. At Katsu's almost angry look, I elaborated. "If you are deluded into believing you'll always be the best, you'll never learn to protect your weaknesses."

Just as Katsu looked like he was about to reply, I cut him off.

"Think about it." I said. "Do you think you could beat the Hokage?"

The eyes of the braided boy went wide. "What?" He spluttered, like what I had said counted as some form of treason (it didn't). "Of course not!"

"Than what would you do if you had to fight someone that was that much stronger than you?" I asked. "Would you jump into it believing you were better than them?"

He actually seemed to consider this for a moment. Finally he said: "No, I guess I would try to lay traps or something." He tapped his chin with a finger. "That, or work with a teammate to even it out a bit."

I nodded, a bit pleased with myself that he actually seemed to be getting what I was saying. "Exactly, just being strong isn't always enough. Sometimes it's the knowing what you're _not _good at that can help you win."

Katsu touched his eye almost subconsciously as a vacant expression crossed his face. It was obvious that he was thinking about something so I just smiled slightly and let him have his moment. After his thought seemed to pass, Katsu turned to me and smiled the brightest smile I have ever seen him wear.

To be honest, I was stunned. Around me, Katsu's expressions had never gotten happier than 'mildly hopeful'. Seeing him like this was almost a cultural shock.

The moment would probably have turned into quite the fuzzy one if it was allowed to last, however this was also the exact time a dark shadow fell over where we were sitting. Almost as one, Katsu and I looked up to find a rather irate looking Mizuki-sensei looming over our heads.

"And just what," Mizuki-sensei said as he began to turn a curious shade of red. "Are you two doing out of class?"

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Dad?" I asked as I was chopping the potatoes for that night's dinner. Putting the knife down, I slid the vegetables into the bubbling pot on the stove and turned to face Gai fully. "Why did you sleep with Junko?"

Gai had been sharpening his kunai at the table but at the mention of Junko he coughed (though this could've also been due to my phrasing) and whipped around. He moved so fast that, if he had been anything other than a ninja, he probably would've stabbed himself.

The spandex clan stared at me for a long time before he put the kunai down and stood up. For the first time in a long time, his words were serious. "You want to know why?" He asked, not even bothering to ask what had brought up the conversation in the first place. It had been a while since I'd met Junko in the streets, but it could be that he's been expecting me to mention it for a while.

I nodded and moved so that I was leaning across the counter on my elbows. "If it's alright." I said. "You two just seem so . . . different."

Instead of sighing at my curiosity (like I half expected him to), Gai made a wistful sort of noise. He leaned back against the kitchen wall and looked at me like he was seeing someone else. "Kaori-chan, the woman you saw was not the one I first met."

I bit my lip, confused. Was he saying that Junko _wasn't _my mother? That couldn't be true, I remembered my birth and (whether I liked it or not) Junko was definitely the one I came from. Not that I could exactly say that to Gai, however.

"I'm not quite sure I follow you." I said instead.

Gai fixed me with a contemplating eye. "Did you know Takayami Junko was once a medic-nin?"

I blinked and nearly started laughing before I realized that Gai was serious. Maybe we really _weren't _talking about the same Junko. The woman I had once known had hatedninja to a level that I hadn't seen since she dropped out of my life 9 years ago. I looked at Gai and suddenly remembered what Kakashi had said when I first came to live here.

'_Junko acts differently around us.'_ Suddenly I could see how that statement could be truer than I originally thought it to be.

"What happened?" I asked Gai. "She said ninja's were killers."

Gai sighed and looked out the window at Kohona's sunset; it was a particularly pretty one today. "There was an . . . incident when she was pregnant with you." He said slowly, like he was trying not to tell me an important part of the story. "Many ninja's died. That was when Junko changed."

I gave him a skeptical look and moved over so that I could stir the (pretty much forgotten) stew. "I thought you didn't know Junko was pregnant with me."

Gai sighed. "Believe me Kaori-chan, I didn't. The incident that changed Junko was not _because _of you, it was a separate event that happened only once. I know that she was pregnant because of your age."

After stirring the stew I had the sudden realization that Gai had yet to go into one of speeches of 'youthfulness' or 'strength'. As the conversation had grown to be somewhat lengthy, I was struck with how serious this must be for him.

"What was the incident?" I asked even as I racked the rarely used 'anime-Naruto information' part of my brain for something that would make sense. For it to have made someone as spiteful as Junko was, it must have been something pretty traumatizing.

Gai looked uncomfortable for a split second before his usual 'Gai Grin' was back in full force, effectively erasing the tense atmosphere that had been occupying our kitchen. "Do not worry Kaori-chan!" He said in an almost painful show of exuberance. "It does not affect today!"

I sighed and went back to my cooking, recognizing the end of a conversation when I saw one. Frowning slightly, I wondered what was so horrible that he couldn't tell me. _Or maybe_, I thought as a new thought suddenly popped into my head, _it's something he was ordered not to tell me._

My birthday was in May I realized with a start, only eight months after the disastrous events surrounding _Naruto's _birth. Suddenly I was looking at Gai with new eyes, could _that _be the event he couldn't tell me.

Had it been the Kyuubi attack that changed Junko so much?

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I stretched lazily as Akio and I exited through the Academy's main doors, glad that it was our lunch break. For some reason, Mizuki-sensei had made today's lesson particularly boring. I wasn't the only one in our class who was glad to be away from calculating the path of thrown kunai.

"Hey Kaori-chan," Akio whined as he tugged at my arm, "Let's go into the Village for lunch today."

I raised an eyebrow at my friend and poked him in the forehead (laughing when he protested the intrusion). "Why not?" I said with a good natured shrug. "Our year is allowed to leave the Academy; we should take advantage of it."

"Sweet!" Akio grinned and made a sort of excited (and not very manly) sound. "I want barbeque beef!" He was actually grabbing my arm now but I didn't really mind. Smiling, I allowed him to drag me out of the school yard and on towards the restaurant district.

"Hopefully you have the money then." I teased, making a big show of checking my pockets. "I didn't bring enough to feed your appetite."

"It's not my fault you eat like a squirrel." He fired back as a wide grin began to spread across his face. "That has to be why you're so tiny."

I frowned at the jibe but didn't get to retort to it. Before I could even think of anything to say, Naruto ran right past us, holding a bucket of yellow paint and laughing loudly. Two angry looking Chunin were right behind him, obviously chasing him for some reason or another.

"Naruto! Come back here!" One of the two shouted as they sped after the blond.

"When I get my hands on you . . .!" The other one threatened, leaving his sentence unfinished as the other Chunin spoke up again.

"You crossed the line this time Naruto!"

Akio and I blinked in unison as Naruto used (an actually fairly impressive) burst of ninja speed to launch himself up onto the roof tops. After barely a second, my blond friend and the two unfortunate ninjas chasing him were gone.

"So . . ." Akio said as we both stared at the place where Naruto had disappeared. "What do you think that was about?"

"I have no idea," I said even though something about the situation seemed blaringly familiar. "But doesn't Naruto have a different lunch hour than us?"

"You're right." Akio said before he shook his head in what I'd guess to be exasperation. "Jeez, why does Naruto always have to skip class? He'll never become a ninja that way."

I shrugged and continued off in the direction we'd been heading before, waiting until Akio had caught up before I began talking again. "He'll be alright." I said with a smile as we turned into a more open street. "Naruto just has a different way of doing things."

Suddenly, Akio stopped.

"Oh wow . . ." The boy besides me said in such a way that I knew he wasn't talking to me. "I really hope that isn't what Naruto's been skipping class for."

"What is-?" I half asked before I followed Akio's line of sight (it wasn't hard, he was staring) and suddenly realized why this situation seemed so familiar.

The four Hokage faces were all covered with wide swirls of red, yellow, and white paint. I gulped, suddenly horrified even though I really had no reason to be. Naruto's paintjob looked _exactly_ like it had in the anime.

I shook my head to clear it, knowing that I shouldn't allow myself to be so rattled by all of this. I had been just as horrified when Gai announced his decision to be a Jounin-sensei after all. If I allowed myself to let every series event shock me, I'd be frozen up far too often. I wouldn't be a very good ninja if I let that happen.

"Kaori?" Akio asked, probably curious to why I hadn't replied yet. With a firm hand, he set us to walking again. "Are you ok?"

I sighed and shook my head again. "Yeah, I was just thinking about . . ." I searched my head for a topic and settled on the last one that made sense. "Naruto."

Akio looked curious but he accepted my answer with a nod. "Aw don't worry Kaori." He said in a way that kinda sounded like a role reversal (as I was usually the one telling _him _that). "If they were going to kick him out for stuff like that, he'd have been gone a while ago."

I laughed and pounded Akio lightly on the shoulder. We had reached the main street now and were heading towards the barbeque restaurant at a rather fast pace. "I never said I was worried for him." I said with a grin. "I was just thinking about how well his perfected Sexy Jutsu turned out."

Akio rolled his eyes as he walked up to the restaurant and held the door open for me in a fashion that was a bit too gentlemanly for his age. "Of course you were." He muttered as I passed him by.

I flashed him a grin and led us over to a booth in the back corner of the room. The little grill on the table sizzled merrily at us as we sat down. "You know Akio." I said. "Maybe you should try to make a 'Sexy Jutsu' of your own."

"Ugh, never." Akio groaned while I giggled at the mental image. "I don't think I'd ever want to become that . . ." His face turned an interesting shade of red. "Revealing."

I swatted at him with a menu. "Don't pretend you don't look when he practices."

If it was even possible, the red of my friend's face had gone from 'sunburn' to 'apple'. "I do not!" He protested loudly, effectively getting several nearby patrons to look our way.

"Sure, sure." I said with a dismissive win and a smile. A waiter plopped down a bowl of raw meat and vegetables before usand I used chopsticks to place a generous amount on the grill.

"Now shut up." I pointed a chopstick at him good-naturedly and grinned a genuine smile. "The food's here."


End file.
